Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Chronic exposure of humans to benzene causes severe bone marrow cell depression leading to aplastic anemia. Marrow stromal macrophage dysfunction and deficient interleukin-1 production has been reported for patients with severe aplastic anemia. The stromal macrophage, a target of benzene toxicity, is involved in hematopoietic regulation through the synthesis of several cytokines including interleukin-1, which is required for production by stromal fibroblasts of a number of cytokines required for the survival of hematopoietic progenitor cells. We have previously demonstrated that hydroquinone, a major toxic metabolite of benzene in marrow, prevents the proteolytic conversion of 31 kDa pre-interleukin-1 alpha to the 17 kDa cytokine by calpain in purified murine stromal macrophages. Furthermore, stromal macrophages from benzene-treated mice produce the 31 kDa pre-interleukin-1 alpha when stimulated in culture with endotoxin, but cannot convert the precursor to interleukin-1 alpha. In this report, we show that 1,4-benzoquinone, the oxidation product of hydroquinone in the cell, causes a concentration-dependent inhibition of highly purified human platelet calpain with an IC50 of 3 microM. Hydroquinone also inhibits the processing of pre-interleukin-1 beta by interleukin-1 beta convertase. The addition of 2 microM hydroquinone to B1 cells that undergo autocrine stimulation by interleukin-1 beta resulted in the cessation of autocrine cell growth and interleukin-1 beta secretion into the culture medium, as determined by Western immunoblots of the culture supernatants. Purified converting enzyme treated with 3 microM benzoquinone was incapable of converting 31 kDa recombinant pre-interleukin-1 beta to the 17 kDa mature cytokine as analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western immunoblotting. These findings support our observations in a mouse model that benzene-induced bone marrow cell depression results from a lack of interleukin-1 alpha subsequent to an inhibition by benzoquinone of calpain, the protease required for converting pre-interleukin-1 alpha to active cytokine. The results may provide a basis for studying benzene-induced aplastic anemia in a mouse model.
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PMID:Inhibition of the conversion of pre-interleukins-1 alpha and 1 beta to mature cytokines by p-benzoquinone, a metabolite of benzene. 854 60

Activation of the calcium-dependent protease calpain has been proposed to be a key step in synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. However, the exact pathway through which calpain mediates or modulates changes in synaptic function remains to be clarified. Here we report that glutamate receptor-interacting protein (GRIP) is a substrate of calpain, as calpain-mediated GRIP degradation was demonstrated using three different approaches: (i) purified calpain I digestion of synaptic membranes, (ii) calcium treatment of frozen-thawed brain sections, and (iii) NMDA-stimulated organotypic hippocampal slice cultures. More importantly, calpain activation resulted in the disruption of GRIP binding to the GluR2 subunit of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate (AMPA) receptors. Because GRIP has been proposed to function as an AMPA receptor-targeting and synaptic-stabilizing protein, as well as a synaptic-organizing molecule, calpain-mediated degradation of GRIP and disruption of AMPA receptor anchoring are likely to play important roles in the structural and functional reorganization accompanying synaptic modifications in long-term potentiation and long-term depression.
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PMID:Proteolysis of glutamate receptor-interacting protein by calpain in rat brain: implications for synaptic plasticity. 1141 38

Ca(2+) overload and free-radical injury are two mutually non-exclusive phenomena suggested to cause myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (IR)-induced contractile dysfunction; however, the mechanisms underlying their effects are not clear. One possible mechanism is the proteolytic modification of proteins by Ca(2+)-dependent proteases, such as calpains, which are activated during Ca(2+) overload that occurs in IR. The sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) plays a central role in mediating cardiac contractility and therefore any impairment in SR function will induce cardiac contractile dysfunction. We therefore investigated the possibility whether SR proteins were the target for calpain action in IR. Langendorff-perfused rat hearts were subjected to IR in the presence and absence of leupeptin, a calpain inhibitor and the effects of calpain inhibition was examined on cardiac performance, SR function, and its regulation by protein phosphorylation as well as expression of SR Ca(2+)-cycling and -regulatory proteins. Our results show a depression in cardiac contractile function and activation of calpain during IR. Treatment with leupeptin recovered cardiac contractile function and attenuated calpain activity in IR hearts. The cardioprotection observed upon leupeptin treatment was associated with improved SR function and regulation. The recovery in SR function and regulation was consistent with prevention of IR-induced decrease in the expression of key SR Ca(2+)-handling and -regulatory proteins. Our results suggest that a downregulation of SR proteins by calpain may be a mechanism by which Ca(2+) overload causes cardiac contractile dysfunction during IR.
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PMID:The sarcoplasmic reticulum proteins are targets for calpain action in the ischemic-reperfused heart. 1524 40

The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor is a cation channel highly permeable to calcium and plays critical roles in governing normal and pathologic functions in neurons. Calcium entry through NMDA receptors (NMDARs) can lead to the activation of the Ca2+-dependent protease, calpain. Here we investigated the involvement of calpain in regulation of NMDAR channel function. After prolonged (5-min) treatment with NMDA or glutamate, the whole-cell NMDAR-mediated current was significantly reduced in both acutely dissociated and cultured cortical pyramidal neurons. The down-regulation of NMDAR current was blocked by bath application of selective calpain inhibitors. Intracellular injection of a specific calpain inhibitory peptide also eliminated the down-regulation of NMDAR current induced by prolonged NMDA treatment. In contrast, dynamin inhibitory peptide had no effect on the depression of NMDAR current, suggesting the lack of involvement of dynamin/clathrin-mediated NMDAR internalization in this process. Immunoblotting analysis showed that the NR2A and NR2B subunits of NMDARs were markedly degraded in cultured cortical neurons treated with glutamate, and the degradation of NR2 subunits was prevented by calpain inhibitors. Taken together, our results suggest that prolonged activation of NMDARs in neurons activates calpain, and activated calpain in turn down-regulates the function of NMDARs, which provides a neuroprotective mechanism against NMDAR overstimulation accompanying ischemia and stroke.
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PMID:Regulation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors by calpain in cortical neurons. 1579 May 61

Aplysia motoneurons cocultured with a presynaptic sensory neuron exhibit homosynaptic depression when stimulated at low frequencies. A single bath application of serotonin (5HT) leads within seconds to facilitation of the depressed synapse. The facilitation is attributed to mobilization of neurotransmitter-containing vesicles from a feeding vesicle store to the depleted, readily releasable pool by protein kinase C (PKC). Here, we demonstrate that the calpain inhibitors, calpeptin, MG132, and ALLN, but not the proteasome inhibitors, lactacystin and clasto-lactacystin beta-lactone, block 5HT-induced facilitation of depressed synapses. Likewise the 5HT-induced enhancement of spontaneous miniature potentials (mEPSPs) frequency of depressed synapses is significantly reduced by calpeptin. In contrast, neither the facilitation of nondepressed synapses nor the enhancement of their mEPSPs frequency is affected by the inhibitor. The data suggest that action potentials-induced calcium influx activate calpains. These, in turn, play a role in the refilling processes of the depleted, releasable vesicle store.
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PMID:Calcium-activated proteases are critical for refilling depleted vesicle stores in cultured sensory-motor synapses of Aplysia. 1607 20

AMPA receptors (AMPARs) are the principal glutamate receptors mediating fast excitatory synaptic transmission in neurons. Aberrant extracellular glutamate has long been recognized as a hallmark phenomenon during neuronal excitotoxicity. Excessive glutamate triggers massive Ca(2+) influx through NMDA receptors (NMDARs), which in turn can activate Ca(2+)-dependent protease, calpain. In the present study, we found that prolonged NMDA treatment (100 microM, 10 min) caused a sustained and irreversible suppression of AMPAR-mediated currents in cortical pyramidal neurons, which was largely blocked by selective calpain inhibitors. Biochemical and immunocytochemical studies demonstrated that in cortical cultures, prolonged glutamate or NMDA treatment reduced the level of surface and total GluR1, but not GluR2, subunits in a calpain-dependent manner. Consistent with the in vitro data, in animals exposed to transient ischaemic insults, calpain was strongly activated, and the AMPAR current density and GluR1 expression level were substantially reduced. Moreover, calpain inhibitors blocked the ischaemia-induced depression of AMPAR currents, and the NMDAR-induced, calpain-mediated depression of AMPA responses was occluded in ischaemic animals. Taken together, our studies show that overstimulation of NMDARs reduces AMPAR functions in cortical pyramidal neurons through activation of endogenous calpain, and calpain mediates the ischaemia-induced synaptic depression. The down-regulation of AMPARs by calpain provides a negative feedback to dampen neuronal excitability in excitotoxic conditions like ischaemia and epilepsy.
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PMID:Calpain regulation of AMPA receptor channels in cortical pyramidal neurons. 1723 99

Under normal physiological conditions, synaptic vesicle endocytosis is regulated by phosphorylation and Ca(2+)-dependent dephosphorylation of endocytic proteins such as amphiphysin and dynamin. To investigate the regulatory mechanisms that may occur under the conditions of excessive presynaptic Ca(2+) influx observed preceding neural hyperexcitation, we examined hippocampal slices following high-potassium or high-frequency electrical stimulation (HFS). In both cases, three truncated forms of amphiphysin I resulted from cleavage by the protease calpain. In vitro, the binding of truncated amphiphysin I to dynamin I and copolymerization into rings with dynamin I were inhibited, but its interaction with liposomes was not affected. Moreover, overexpression of the truncated form of amphiphysin I inhibited endocytosis of transferrin and synaptic vesicles. Inhibiting calpain prevented HFS-induced depression of presynaptic transmission. Finally, calpain-dependent amphiphysin I cleavage attenuated kainate-induced seizures. These results suggest that calpain-dependent cleavage of amphiphysin I inhibits synaptic vesicle endocytosis during neural hyperexcitation and demonstrate a novel post-translational regulation of endocytosis.
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PMID:Truncations of amphiphysin I by calpain inhibit vesicle endocytosis during neural hyperexcitation. 1754 3

Although several studies have shown that the administration of 17beta-estradiol (estrogen) is cardioprotective to ischemia-reperfusion (I/R), the molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. Therefore, we investigated the effects of estrogen on myocardial I/R injury in rat that were sham operated (Sham), ovariectomized (OVX), or ovariectomized and then given estrogen supplementation (OE). Langendorff-perfused rat hearts were subjected to I/R stimuli and the effects of estrogen were examined on cardiac performance. Additionally, we examined the mechanism of estrogen-mediated inhibition of apoptosis. Depression in cardiac contractile function and an increment of calpain activity were observed during I/R in the OVX rats. Estrogen replacement recovered cardiac contractile function and attenuated calpain activity, Bid cleavage, and caspases activities. Through in vitro assay using cardiomyocytes, we demonstrated that addition of H2O2 (100 microM) significantly increased calpain activity, which was attenuated by estrogen. Moreover, calpain activity was inhibited by calpain inhibitors such as ALLN or leupeptin, but not by caspase-8 inhibitor peptide. These results suggest that estrogen protects the heart against I/R injury through the decrease of calpain activity, Bid cleavage and caspase-8 activity. These apoptotic mechanisms may play a critical role on I/R-associated cardiac damage.
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PMID:Estrogen attenuates cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury via inhibition of calpain-mediated bid cleavage. 1803 1

Calpains are Ca(2+)-activated enzymes which cleave cytoskeletal and other proteins, contributing to neuronal damage in conditions of pathological intracellular Ca(2+) elevation, including stroke. However, the consequences of calpain overactivation have typically been observed hours after insult. To identify the earliest events attributable to calpain activation, and thus potentially isolate calpain substrates involved in acute neuronal damage, we dynamically recorded the effects of calpain inhibition in an in vitro model of stroke. Extracellular DC potentials and fEPSPs were monitored together with changes of light transmittance (as a measure of cell and mitochondrial swelling) and Rh 123 fluorescence (to monitor mitochondrial membrane potential; DeltaPsi(m)) in hippocampal slices obtained from P12-P17 rats. No differences were observed in the latencies of fEPSP disruption or onset of extracellular DC shifts associated with hypoxic spreading depression (HSD) evoked by oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) under control conditions or in the presence of calpain inhibitor III (MDL 28170). However, a significant difference was observed in transmitted light signals during OGD with calpain inhibition. Given the potential contribution of mitochondrial swelling to changes in light transmittance, these experiments were also conducted in the presence of cyclosporin A to block opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP). Our results indicate that differences in OGD-induced changes of light transmittance in the presence of MDL 28170 are not likely the result of MPTP blockade or changes in dendritic beading. We propose that calpain inhibition may alter changes in light transmittance by limiting conformational changes of mitochondria.
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PMID:Contribution of calpain activation to early stages of hippocampal damage during oxygen-glucose deprivation. 1820 36

Brain-pancreas relative protein (BPRP) is a novel protein that we found in our laboratory. Previously we demonstrated that it is involved in ischemia and depression. In light of the putative association between diabetes and clinical depression, and the selective expression of BPRP in brain and pancreas, the present study examined whether BPRP levels are affected by induction of diabetes by alloxan injection in rats and exposure to high glucose levels in PC12 cells. Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses revealed that BPRP levels were decreased in the hippocampal CA1 neurons of diabetic rats 4 and 8 weeks post-alloxan injection and in PC12 cells 48 h after exposure to high concentrations of glucose. BPRP protein levels were not affected by osmolarity control treatments with mannitol. Follow-up pharmacological experiments in PC12 cells revealed that glucose-induced BPRP down-regulation was markedly attenuated by the calpain inhibitors N-acetyl-Leu-Leu-norleucinal (ALLN) or calpeptin, but not the proteasome-specific inhibitor carbobenzoxy-Leu-Leu-leucinal (MG132). The ability of calpain inhibitors to specifically counter the effects of high glucose exposure on BPRP levels further suggests that BPRP and calpain activity may contribute to diabetes complications in the central nervous system.
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PMID:Down-regulation of brain-pancreas relative protein in diabetic rats and by high glucose in PC12 cells: prevention by calpain inhibitors. 1821 79


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